Live data from Hacker News

I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

jeffgeerling.com

461–470 of 683 posts

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#461
post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High speed rails would involve large scale manufacturing and long-term planning. This is the one thing the US simply cannot do anymore (unless it's military, then they will make 300ish in a decade)

High speed rail is definitely not a requirement. Ordinary trains are still faster than driving. What the USA lacks is a robust network. The spread of rail is too thin to be useful for everyday use.

Trains in the western US are not faster than driving because there is heavy freight rail traffic. Passenger trains (if they existed) would get stuck behind slow freight trains.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#463

@Jeff: Are you worried or thought about resale value? Do you plan to keep it for long?

Like my other cars, I plan on driving it into the ground :)

And the range is overkill for me, really. I could live with 100 miles or so and not worry, so even if the battery wears down to 50% SoH (right now it's 93% after 36k miles), I'll still be happy.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#464
post #123
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He bought a used EV. The cost of depreciation is borne by the previous owner.

He paid 17k and it's still a long way to zero.

$15k after adjusting for extra $2k added to trade-in (my offer was $15k, but they bumped the trade-in value of my Camry up $2k to compensate since that was better for them then adjusting the price down $2k), and at the end of the year I should qualify for the $4k used EV tax rebate (I have the paperwork), so ideally it's an $11k purchase.

I'm happy with that.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a purely economic point of view, buying a new car is always a bad idea, regardless of the drivetrain technology.

Exception being those buying new cars, leaving them in storage for a decade or two, and then selling them at auction for 10x.

Even then, it is rarely a good economic decision. Its hard to predict which cars will rise in value that much (unless you're spending $800K+ on some invite-only limited-run hypercar). The storage and insurance add up. It'll invariably need repairs after that time, which can cost a fortune on a limited run car. The opportunity cost will be investing that money in the stock market, which is much more likely to 10x your money.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#466
post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is usually ~€16/h Holy HELL that is crazy. I thought £5/hr in London was crazy.

I paid over $50 USD for parking a bit over two hours in Cambridge Massachusetts when visiting MIT. Parking in the Boston area is atrocious.

Luckily the Boston area is relatively (very, by US standards) easy to get around without a car :)

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m wrong about CCS, can’t edit this long after so replying here to myself to clarify. I’m dumb, of course I always see CHAdeMO because my charger app is set to that for DC fast. Duh … a friend said unset filters and yeah there are more CCS DC fast.

Yeah, in St. Louis metro, I think there are only like 2-3 CHAdeMO chargers, period. On the trip to Chicago, I only see 4 plugs on the way, and those are all at dealerships... which often have cars parked in front of them, so I can't really rely on those being available :D

I’m looking on the Chargepoint App and I see some CHAdeMO DC Fast in both Springfield and Bloomington. They tend to be in strip mall parking lots near Home Depots and Walmarts.

That said having a CCS adapter working is very interesting and I will be following your experience as I have similar a Leaf to you (2021 SV Plus)

https://github.com/geerlingguy/electric-car/issues/9

I am very happy with my 2021 Leaf. It’s a very solid around town and commute vehicle. Anyone comparing it to Bolts doesn’t understand the Nissan build quality is just much better, Leaf is in a different league of design, refinement, and reliability.

One thing I would recommend is a set of winter wheels and tires if you’re in St Louis.

I’m on the fence about buying a comma.ai Comma 3x to try with it. The ProPILOT Assist built in is pretty helpful on long distance highways and the Comma 3x adds a bunch of interesting capabilities. My hesitation is partially insurance related, I’m not sure what Geico will say about it if you’re in an accident for example when it was engaged.

fwiw I’m confident after reading your post and watching you video you made the right choice for you and your objectives.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This surprises me, given that almost every country has safer electric plugs than the US. Heat is a function of current and car chargers limit themselves to less than the current the plug is rated for. "Less than" equals 80% in the US.

It might be that the average euro is less aware of continuous draw limitations since there’s so much more power normally (compared to US residential power). Could also be that for historical reasons you could have a house wired for 10 or 13 A and not be aware if it. ‘Course you can manage that by having the chargers limit themselves to 8A default (or even always), at 1800W that’s a very slow trickle but it’s somethin…

Standard circuits are either 8A or 10A.

That's a little more power than a US 15A, or the same as a US 20A.

There is often 3 phase power to the home in Europe, however. That allows 415V phase to phase and also 3-phase synchronous motors.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#469
post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is usually ~€16/h Holy HELL that is crazy. I thought £5/hr in London was crazy.

I paid over $50 USD for parking a bit over two hours in Cambridge Massachusetts when visiting MIT. Parking in the Boston area is atrocious.

Why should parking be easy or cheap in urban Cambridge? (For those unaware, MIT is just a short bridge across a river from Boston.) You should take the subway (metro) or bus. There are many non-driving options for the able-bodied.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#470
I recently had a similar situation but the chademo charger was the deal breaker for me here in the UK. Yes they exist, but perhaps each station would have 1 chademo Vs 3 or 4 CCS2, while other more recent stations are only CCS2. And even if there is one there, the chademo would only be 45 or 50kw while the newer CCS2 ones are frequently 150+kw now. I think I only ever saw a 100kw chademo once (...or maybe I imagined that?!)

Some lexus things used chademo too.

Ended up getting a used VW id.3 which ticks a lot of the leaf's boxes, but has CCS2 and 100+kw dc charging

Post reply on HN